Hands down, the most fun project I've ever done in Mardi Gras.

A carnival first, Le Krewe D'Etat threw customized playing cards to parade goers. Everything was custom, the faces, the backs and the boxes themselves. I was asked to design them.

Thousands of decks were thrown. Hopefully, you were lucky enough to get one.

If you notice in the above picture, some of the box ends are black and some of the box ends are white. This desinates the color of the backs of the cards, as half were black backed and half were white backed.

Initially the boxes were designed mostly in black, but being a night parade, the boxes were brightened up to show up in darkness.

There was alot of symbolism and jokes implemented into the cards. Who would be the ace? The Captain, of course. Who would be the king? The Dictator, of course. Who would be the queen? Four hotties ( a blonde, a redhead, a brunette and a black haired chick). Who would be the jack? The High Priest, of course...

I won't spell out all the symbols, but here are a few...

The Jack of Clubs holds Napoleon's rifle.

Each numbered card has that number of flames on the flambeaux.

The Jack of Hearts has two eyes, but one is covered with a patch, making him a one-eyed Jack again.

The feathered plumes atop the Captain's head are in the shapes of the suits, etc...

Have any krewes thrown custom decks before? No. Will other krewes follow "suit"? Probably. It won't be the first time D'Etat was copied.

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